Found faith, then lost it...pray that I find it again

I don't know what you exactly mean about 'losing it.' And not certain what the 'journey' means. Were you responding to the Gospel? Attending a church? Trying to live a good life?


Being a Christian is not following rules and regulations, reading and attending church. Sure those things are things we do once we have been called by God, convicted of our sin, repent and confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts He is Risen from the dead. I don't think one can 'obtain' this regeneration, repentance and faith without the unmerited Grace of God moving us.

You and everyone should have a fear of God. He will judge our transgressions. Yet God came in the flesh to wipe our sins away and give us His Righteousness.

He loves us so much He even says:


That’s a promise for all who believe in Him. They will have everlasting life.

We also see:


And:





Advice? Pray to our Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father you have convicted me of my self centered sinful nature. My sins are great and before you. I am a damned and destitute sinner in need of Your Grace. I need Jesus as my champion, my Savior. You sent Your Son Jesus Christ in Whom you are well pleased to die for my sins, give me His Righteousness and rise from the dead three days later to grant me eternal life with you. It is nothing I could ever do. How can I? You loved me so much that while I was still in my sin a child of wrath and dead in my trespasses, You made me alive together with Jesus Christ. It is by Your unmerited Grace I am saved through faith in the saving Work of Jesus Christ. Wipe me clean of all iniquity and sin. It is nothing I can do or boast of. Make me a new creation and give me The Holy Spirit as the Promise of Your eternal reward. I will be Your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

RyanB92 said:

A few months ago I began by journey with Christ, and found a new faith in him. In the beginning I felt so close to Him, praying every day and reading His word. Then after a few weeks fell back into old habits and thinking. The gospel couldn’t hold my attention and praying didn’t interest me. I decided my interest in Jesus must have been a phase and moved on with my life. But now I’m scared that I’ve messed up by rejecting him like that. I don’t have this feeling in my heart that I KNOW he is real, but sometimes find myself wondering if I was on the right path before. I guess I just don’t really know what I want or what I believe. I’m not sure what caused my initial interest in coming to Jesus, and I don’t know why I’m coming back months after my short phase. I guess I just want to have that feeling that I know he is real. But since my first experience with Christ only lasted a short while before I lost faith again, I guess I’m worried that it will happen again and then what’s the point?

So I guess I’m asking for people to pray for me and if Jesus is real to help me to know and believe that.

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"seek a ye shall find". You are still a seeker. One day God will fill you with His Holy Spirit when you are ready and you want Him to.
Prayers and blessings.

@RyanB92 , this is a Christian comedy routine, but it really does speak to the OP.

RyanB92 said:

A few months ago I began by journey with Christ, and found a new faith in him. In the beginning I felt so close to Him, praying every day and reading His word. Then after a few weeks fell back into old habits and thinking. The gospel couldn’t hold my attention and praying didn’t interest me. I decided my interest in Jesus must have been a phase and moved on with my life.

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At this time when you began your Journey with Christ.

I assume you said I believe Jesus died for my sins, thus your belief you began your Journey?

Question.

Did you at that initial time of your beginning your Journey, did you at any time "GET BAPTIZED"

Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;

Very simply.
If you did not get Baptized, then that is the explanation of your back and forth problem.

RyanB92 said:

A few months ago I began by journey with Christ, and found a new faith in him. In the beginning I felt so close to Him, praying every day and reading His word. Then after a few weeks fell back into old habits and thinking. The gospel couldn’t hold my attention and praying didn’t interest me. I decided my interest in Jesus must have been a phase and moved on with my life. But now I’m scared that I’ve messed up by rejecting him like that. I don’t have this feeling in my heart that I KNOW he is real, but sometimes find myself wondering if I was on the right path before. I guess I just don’t really know what I want or what I believe. I’m not sure what caused my initial interest in coming to Jesus, and I don’t know why I’m coming back months after my short phase. I guess I just want to have that feeling that I know he is real. But since my first experience with Christ only lasted a short while before I lost faith again, I guess I’m worried that it will happen again and then what’s the point?

So I guess I’m asking for people to pray for me and if Jesus is real to help me to know and believe that.

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Maybe the prospect of ending up in hell didn't frighten you enough when you first accepted Christ. I am not saying that people should be frightened into heaven, but they should be frightened away from hell, in the same way if I was confronted by a king cobra snake rearing up ready to strike, I would certainly be frightened away from it!

The problem is that many accept Christ without knowing fully that as a hopeless and helpless sinner, they don't fully realise how absolutely fearful it is to fall into the hands of the Living God. Therefore they have the wrong motives for receiving Christ, and end up getting religion instead.

Saving faith is a gift from God and He gives it only when He sees that the seeker really means business with Him. Others cannot pray you through the narrow gate to salvation. You have to walk it by yourself. But if you don't have a full appreciation that you really do need to flee from the wrath to come you won't earnestly seek the location of the narrow gate, but decide to go over the religious wall and be self-deceived by easy believerism that you are actually saved, when you are still lost.

Perhaps the first step is for you to ask the Holy Spirit to show you the extent of your own sinfulness and how that puts you in a place where you can only expect the wrath of God for your sin. It will be then that you will see the gospel as really good news for you, and you will earnestly seek the true saving faith that you will never lose.

RyanB92 said:

Yes, I did pray that. But then I worried that since I didn’t have true faith the words were meaningless. And no I haven’t been baptised

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Right there is your problem, you have no power of God through the Holy Spirit in your life.

There aren't degrees of Faith, you either have Faith or you don't, and since you confessed that you believed Jesus died for your sins, that is all the Faith you will ever need, or as you would say TRUE FAITH, without that Faith no one can confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Rom. 12:3
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

So you see, through the Grace of God, we all get the same measure of Faith.

Ok now get yourself Baptized as soon as you are able to swing it.

Strangely enough I just wrote this to someone else last night, but it also fits your situation.

Scripture says, Jesus said.

Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;

There are two conscience steps which must be taken in order for a Non Believer to become a Saved Believer.

1) A person must consciously Believe Jesus died for their sins in order for them to receive Forgiveness of those sins.

2) The now Believer, MUST become Baptized, this also is a conscience act.

During Baptism, the Believer Dies to the flesh, becomes alive to the Spirit, this is being Regenerated by the Holy Spirit unto Newness of life (IN) Christ.

Gal. 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Rom 6:3-5
3) Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Because this will be the first time you have ever been Baptized, you have not had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit up until you become Born Again

John 3:3
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 3:5-7
5) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Do you know anyone who is Saved that could lead you to where you can get Baptized?

If you need anything else or have any questions, just Private Message me.

Hope this helps clear things up
Be Blessed in Christ

Falling back into old patterns seems to be the primary way that faith is weakened. I pray you will turn to the Lord for the strength only He can give so that you walk in His ways consistently.

There was a woman, Kathryn Kuhlman, who had a healing ministry with many documented medical miracles. She said not to seek faith, but to seek the Lord. "Faith is a gift." Pray for more of that gift and for it to be stirred up, every day.

P.S. Please get baptized.

Lord bless RyanB92 and this prayer request, hold RyanB92's hand and guide in your ways. Let RyanB92's faith be upon you always, and you be glorified, in Jesus precious name, Amen!

RyanB92 said:

I would pray for faith but I just done understand how to do it without it just being meaningless words, how can I pray to God when I don’t know that I truly believe in him? It just feels like repeating words and not really speaking to him

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Sometimes a prayer is just groaning and tears.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans 8:26

A few times a day I pray (or recite?) prayers that I've learned or written myself that are my set prayers to say. I've found it a useful practice in difficult situations (like being in the emergency room on a stretcher!) but I also find it a good way to bring my focus back to God. It's a good habit to cultivate in a world of bad habits.

Other times I can only cry my eyes out and recite the Jesus prayer ''Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.'' I just tell God, these tears are my prayer, You know
my heart.

Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
Psalm 5:1-2

Father, may this one come to realize why they need to be saved, that it is about sin, about judgment, about hell, about heaven, about being born again, about pleasing You, and not about just their feelings and their beliefs. May they come to know the truth, and do things Your way, and not their way. May they come to a true salvation, and not just a "feel good" feeling. Amen.